Eliot Kamenitz, The Times-Picayune archiveTulane graduate student Joshua Schoop reviews advance placement courses with Deandreil Brazile, left, and Jaynisha Walker at Cohen High School's College Night in January. The Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved a policy Wednesday that requires all school districts to offer high school students advance placement options.

The state ranks next to last in the nation when it comes to public high school seniors earning such credit, according to a study released in November.

The courses are known as Advanced Placement.

Scores range from 1 to a high of 5, and students typically have to score at least a 3 to earn college credit.

Only 33 of Louisiana's 70 school districts offer AP classes, according to Debbie Schum, executive director of college and career readiness for the state Department of Education.

The state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approved a policy Wednesday to change that.

"Frankly it is a bare minimum to require a district to offer at least one AP class," said Penny Dastugue, president of BESE.

Backers said the classes add rigor to public high school courses.

"We have data that show even if a student scores a 2 those students are a whole lot more likely to graduate from college even if they don't qualify for the credit," Schum said.

Students who tackle the classes also are more likely to attend college, she said.

Just more than 4 percent of Louisiana students passed at least one AP exam in 2009 compared with 16 percent in the South and nationally, according to a study by the Southern Regional Education Board.

The study also said 29 percent of high school seniors in SREB states took at least one AP exam in 2009 compared with just 10 percent in Louisiana.

The national average was 26 percent.

Schum said school districts will have two options to widen AP course access.

Districts would be required to offer the classes online through the Louisiana Virtual School at a cost of $150.

Districts also can train more teachers to teach AP classes.

Schum said the state has applied for a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to aid local districts in that effort.

She said the state should know next month whether it will land the grant.

"The norm in other states is for kids taking AP classes as a sophomore," Dastugue said. "It is absurd that we have some children that have access to none."

The new policy would make it easier for students who take AP courses to qualify for an academic endorsement on their high school diplomas.

The new policy lacks any specific timetable on when the AP courses have to be offered.